Michelle's diverse background in providing strategic legal guidance in multiple financial service environments allows her to advise on all aspects of banking and financial matters.
Overview
With extensive experience as in-house counsel, as a private practitioner, and as a Missouri Assistant Attorney General, Michelle brings a practical and tactical approach to matters related to risk management, financial services litigation and planning, financial communications, negotiations, investigations, and daily financial services operations. She has also advised and provided critical guidance on third-party risk management requirements for financial institutions and service providers.
Michelle supports and counsels business leaders on legal and regulatory compliance matters, including credit reporting, collections, customer service, form development, CFPB matters, and data gathering and mapping. She has assisted on multiple consumer claims brought under FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, TILA and state consumer protection acts.
Experience
Developed creative defense strategies for diesel emissions litigation and governmental investigations, coordinated colossal document production and multiple officer depositions, and harmonized alignment of legal and operational tactics with major international car manufacturer.
Created master service agreements and supporting exhibits templates for use with service providers to incorporate substantially revised compliance terms and multiple regulatory changes; created and revised multiple service provider contracts to establish consistency and stricter enforcement for vendors.
Company's point person for assessing all COVID-19-related guidance directives from federal, state and local governments, including impact and applicability analysis, and converting it into functional processes for operational use; provided continuous legal support to customer service teams handling an exponential increase in customer call volume, many seeking financing accommodations.
Analyzed and applied statutory requirements for electronic signatures and electronic vaulting for updating and implementing financial service provider’s retail installment contract (RIC).
As a Missouri Assistant Attorney General, prosecuted civil and criminal consumer protection and fraud cases; served as multi-state executive committee member for concurrent investigations with managerial responsibility for organization and completion of substantial document review and discovery, pleading and agreement drafting, and extended negotiations with target companies.
News & Insights
News
Publications
Professional & Civic Activities
Professional & Civic Activities
2022 Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), Ladder Down Program
Practices & Industries
Admissions
- Missouri, 1993
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Education
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, J.D.
University of Missouri-Columbia, B.S. with Honors, Food Science & Nutrition
